Saturday, October 5, 2013

In February we will having a class on growing Potato Onions by Kelly Winterton who developed large multiplier onions here in northern Utah! These onions grow like garlic, with 2-8 onions cloning from each onion. The onions are 1-3" in size and they store well. You can plant them in the fall at the same time as your garlic, or in the spring. Kelly will be bringing seed for us to grow out, which we can then grow as clones.

If you are interested in getting seeds, please read this booklet now by Kelli to learn about them.

I'm falling more and more in love with the versatility of Rampicante! Tonight I made my favorite lasagna recipe, substituting mandalin sliced Rampicante for the pasta. So yummy! Peel the Rampicante, cut into 4-6" pieces or as long as you can slice on your mandalin lengthwise, the thickness should be the same as lasagna noodles, do not precook - stack in your lasagna raw, and use in your favorite lasagna recipe. Cooking time should be the same as your recipe calls for, I cooked mine at 350 degrees for 50 min.

Upcoming Classes and Events

Mapleton Ready is providing a free winter gardening class by Caleb Warnock, author of Backyard Winter Gardening. It will cover among other things: hot beds, the best winter varieties to grow, and hoop houses.

How to Become a Member

If you would like to become a member of the Utah Seed Exchange you will need to:

1. Commit to learning and actively saving seeds, at least one new variety a year. You must test your seeds for purity by growing a few and matching them to the parent plant before you share them with anyone.

2. Become familiar with the concepts of seed saving. Please catch up with the information and classes that have been taught. They are listed under the 'Pages' section on the right. Go through the pages and read and watch the information.

3. You will need to own and reference 'Seed to Seed' by Suzanne Ashworth (amazon.com) and it is recommended that you own and read 'The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency used by the Mormon Pioneer' by Caleb Warnock which is a great book on seed saving in Utah.

When you have done these things, email me your request for membership at utahseedexchange@gmail.com and let me know that you have completed the requirements.